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“We know residents in the area often use these pathways to walk dogs and ride their bikes throughout the day and evening and I want to reassure them that these crimes are being fully investigated by officers.”

He said they were not currently treating the incidents as linked, but added: “We will continue to try and establish who is responsible for the offences.

“I would encourage bike owners to mark their property as this makes it less attractive to thieves and can help get your possessions back if we recover them.”

He asked that anyone with information contact police on 101.

He added: “You might have also been approached by someone selling a bike – if you are suspicious then please call us.”

Chris Dalgarno-Holt, 45, from Salford, was cycling on the Levenshulme stretch of the loop at 2pm on Sunday.

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Knocked from his bike, he was left dazed, covered in cuts, bruises - and without a £600 bike, his phone and other belongings. He added: “I’m angry. My life was in my bag on the bike.”

Mark Usher’s story is much the same.

Cycling just past the Levenshulme section of the loop on his way home from work in Old Trafford on June 24 at 6.30pm he was jumped by three men, who punched him in the stomach, knocked him from his bike and stole it.

Another cyclist told on Facebook of two thieves leaving a bike’s owner ‘bleeding and bruised’ on June 29 after an attack as he cycled towards Levenshulme from Reddish on the Fallowfield Loop.